Restrictions on the import of a number of goods from Armenia will not negatively affect Russian markets, Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov said.

“I am ready to say about our markets: our markets, of course, will not be affected. However, these are products that occupy a fairly large space, and we [i.e. Russia] always provide the main amount on the account of our own production,” Reshetnikov told Izvestia on Friday.

He added that Russia values all its suppliers, but at the same time has a diversified structure of suppliers. And thanks to this, Armenia’s withdrawal will not have any negative consequences, the Russian official assured.

The press service of the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision (Rosselkhoznadzor)  reported Thursday that, starting from Saturday, Rosselkhoznadzor was introducing temporary restrictions on the import of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, greens, and strawberries of Armenian origin and shipped from Armenia go Russia. Russian specialists had conducted an inspection at several enterprises in Armenia, during which a number of violations were found: the presence of quarantine facilities for the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in greenhouses.

Later, Rosselkhoznadzor clarified that the agricultural products supplied by Armenia did not comply with the norms of the EAEU and Russia. Rosselkhoznadzor noted that in this regard it can be assumed that the Ministry of Economy of Armenia is unable to cope with the powers assigned to it after the dissolution of the country’s agriculture ministry.